Tag: martini

It’s #nationalmartiniday and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate this wonderful drink than by drinking it!

Before we share our classic recipe here are our three favourite facts about one of the worlds best loved boozy drinks:

1. The martini glass pre-dates the drink itself. Previously known simply as a cocktail glass, the prerequisites for any good cocktail glass are to have a long stem to avoid affecting the temperature of the aromatic elixir within and to have a inverted conical bowl. Originally cocktail glasses were made from high-quality lead crystal and held around 13 cl of liquid. With the rise of mechanical glass-making the cocktail glass can now be bought in a variety of sizes and shapes. Luxury lead hand-blown crystal is still made today, but is sadly a dying art. We are in fact the last manufacturers of hand-blown, hand-cut luxury lead crystal in Britain, so thankfully you can still observe the tradition. You can bring your collection up to date with our Boogie Woogie range, which was created with mixology in mind!

2. Famous martini lovers have included Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart and of course…Cumbria Crystal’s number one fan…James Bond. This celebrity endorsement helped cement the cocktail’s reputation and it has never left the cocktail menu since. Variations on the classic gin and vermouth cocktail include a dirty martini, where olive brine is introduced, but no variations have the same gravitas as James Bond’s ubiquitous ‘shaken not stirred’ instructions. However you like yours is fine by us though as we aren’t quite so strict as 007!

3. Vermouth the undisputed alchemist in the martini is the gin of the wine world. Flavoured with botanicals such as bark, herbs, seeds and spices additional alcohol (often grape brandy) is added to the neutral wine before the fermentation process begins, it is then sweetened afterwards to varying degrees. Each vermouth has its own closely guarded secret recipe of botanicals to be included. At one stage vermouth was thought to be medicinal and was prescribed liberally as a tonic to cure a variety of ailments, perhaps not so surprising given its aromatic herby flavour.

You will need

1. Chill your Grasmere martini glass. Our lead crystal glasses can be chilled in the fridge or if you just can’t wait fill it and gently swill it full of ice

2. Generously fill a shaker or tall separate glass with large ice cubes

3. Pour over the Vermouth

4. Pour in the gin…hurrah! Gin!

5. Shake it or stir it with a tall spoon, contrary to Mr Bond’s instructions we don’t think it matters too much

6. Pour it into your empty chilled Grasmere martini glass

7. Garnish with an olive or twist your lemon slice in to release the oils

8. Drink it. Actually – sip it. It’s strong!

9. Enjoy the slightly warm giggly feeling

10. Make another

Sadly the history of the martini’s invention has been claimed by so many people that it’s unclear who invented this delightfully uplifting drink but we thank whoever they were from the bottom of our glass! Can’t wait until next year!